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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28791678">Lost Among The Stars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireGiant/pseuds/FireGiant'>FireGiant</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Transformers Generation One, Transformers: Cyberverse</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 08:28:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,644</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28791678</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireGiant/pseuds/FireGiant</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a week on the ark is relatively uneventful, the Autobots are restless. They pick up on a signal from a nearby planet and luckily the world was once colonized as a vacationing spot. They decide to land and stretch their legs. But when they get there, things seem slightly off and it only goes downhill from there.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arcee &amp; Grimlock (Transformers), Bumblebee &amp; Cheetor (Transformers), Bumblebee &amp; Windblade (Transformers), Elita One/Optimus Prime, Green Female Autobot | Greenlight/Orange Female Autobot | Lancer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Arcee and Grimlock, like the rest of the crew of the ark, are board and are desperate to end it. So they decide to play a game. Windblade is grateful that they have some downtime after their last week on the ark had been hectic but is also growing bored of the calm atmosphere. luckily they come across a planet to end their boredom, at least for a little while.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> Unlikely Find </span>
</p><p>Arcee slouched in her seat at the station she was currently manning. She was looking at the ship's status reports. So far nothing was wrong. There was nothing obstructing the <em> Ark </em>’s path, and there was nothing keeping it from moving forward. Everything was in working order. Everything was fine. </p><p> </p><p>Except nothing was fine, this ship had been stuck in this status of “fine” for the past few orns and it was starting to grind on her nerves. At first, it seemed great, it was refreshing that not everything was seemingly falling apart at the seams every five nano-kliks. </p><p> </p><p>But after a few orns it was kind of like cold turkey. At least for Arcee. To her adventuring was a drug, a very addictive one. Going on adventures, surviving life-threatening situations. She could almost feel the adrenaline pumping through her system, but there was nothing to do. And now that that feeling was gone, she felt like something was missing from her. That there was something that she desperately needed, but it was just out of her reach, so close and yet so far away from her. It was frustrating and irritating. She wasn’t entirely sure what was stopping her from going into the engine room and slashing the engines just so that <em> something </em> happened. Maybe it was the existential dread of being lost in space forever. </p><p> </p><p>That was a terrifying thought. Being stuck in space, surrounded by a black void sprinkling with stars that would eventually fade into nothingness. Not only that, but this particular section of space seemed to be the most boring. Arcee was sure that there was somewhere else that was a more boring section of space, but this one took the cake on her list. There was literally nothing. Nothing of interest, not even a speck of dust. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee straightened her back strut after a small cramp began to form. This always happened when she curved her back for too long. She wondered if that was normal. She looked down at the screen. There was nothing to report, the engines were running smoothly, none of the fuel lines were clogged. Arcee fell back into the seat assuming the same position she was in a few kliks ago deciding she was going to ignore the little twinge in her back.</p><p> </p><p>She let out a small groan and shifted, crossing her leg over the other. But after a few kliks that position was boring so, she shifted again, uncrossing her legs and then crisscrossing them in her seat.</p><p> </p><p>She groaned again and shifted once more, but she found that trying to cross her legs while sitting in a seat designed for a bot to sit with their pedes planted firmly on the floor was less than comfortable. She shifted around again for a few more minutes internally cringing at the sound of metal grinding each time she moved, but no one else seemed to notice the noises. By the end of it, she was back in the same position before she had started trying to get more comfortable. </p><p> </p><p>She looked over a Grimlock who was practically falling asleep at his station. He had decided to stand up stating earlier that it might help him focus. But even that was not able to combat his boredom. His helm hung limply and his intake hung open ever so slightly. A bead of oral lubricants was building in the middle of his bottom lip. She saw the mostly grey bot swaying in place, his hips slowly tilting from side to side as his legs shifted stiffly from one pede to the other. He suddenly jerked upright, sucking the lubricants back into his intake. A light dusting of blue spread across his faceplate. He glanced at Arcee who chuckled at him. He hummed a little tune to himself that sounded oddly familiar but she couldn’t place it.</p><p> </p><p>Grimlock finally sighed and fell into his seat. The metal chair creaked and groaned as all of Grimlock’s weight was thrust into it. Arcee was surprised that it didn’t break, Grimlock was not so surprisingly heavy. The Dinobot leaned back in his chair sighing. He would be staring up at the ceiling if his optics weren't sealed shut. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m bored.” Arcee said after a few moments of silence between the two bots. She shifted and mimicked Grimlock’s position, but her helm was turned so she was looking at him. Her backplates seemed to tense when they felt the cold metal of her chair press against them.</p><p> </p><p>“Aren't we all?” Grimlock asked not even opening his optics when he responded. His voice still held that Grimlock matter-of-factness to it, a tone that only he could pull off, even as his voice was laced with weariness. Arcee turned her helm away from the mech and tilted her helm up so she was looking at the golden orange ceiling of the ship.</p><p> </p><p>“I know,” Arcee said, sitting up slightly. “Let’s play a game.” </p><p> </p><p>“Like what?” Grimlock asked with a heavy sigh on the cusp of becoming a groan. His foredigit began to gently tap on the arm of his chair.</p><p> </p><p>“I spy?” Arcee said, half sheepishly. It was the first thing that popped into her processor, and there wasn’t much that she or Grimlock could choose from without the game being super easy or insanely hard. Maybe that would make it more interesting. </p><p> </p><p>“Sure.” Grimlock said onlining his optics and sitting up in his seat. His digit still tapped against the metal in a thoughtless rhythm, creating a high pitched <em> ping </em> every time metal struck metal. “You go first.” He said. </p><p> </p><p>“I spy…” Arcee began quietly looking around the control room. There wasn’t much to choose from, the interior of the <em> Ark </em> was a yellowish gold, and the screens were a bright glowing blue. Outside wasn’t any more interesting, there was nothing but pitch black and white specks. The only other colors came from the other Autobots in the ship with them. “Something… white.” She finally decided. She smiled to herself he would never guess it.  </p><p> </p><p>“It’s not the stars is it?” Grimlock asked, a crooked grin stretching across his face. Arcee stared at him deadpanned for a moment before smirking along with him. </p><p> </p><p>“No, did you think I was going to go that easy on you?” She asked, crossing her arms in mock annoyance. </p><p> </p><p>“Never.” Grimlock said, shaking his helm. “It’s not a part of you is it?” He asked. </p><p> </p><p>“Nope.” Arcee said, shaking her helm. Grimlock shifted in his seat and looked around. He looked at the lines outlining the screen embedded into the <em> Ark </em>’s dashboard. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s the lines isn’t it?” He said. A triumphant look was forming on Grimlock’s face. Luckily he had guessed wrong.   </p><p> </p><p>“Nope.” Arcee shook her helm, her smile growing at Grimlock’s faded away and then eventually ceased to exist at all.</p><p> </p><p>“What could it be?” He asked Arcee to barely make out what he had said. His servo came up to stroke his chin. </p><p> </p><p>“Do you want a clue?” Arcee asked. </p><p> </p><p>“No… yes.” He said. Arcee chuckled. “It’s on someone.” Arcee said with a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s still not helpful.” Grimlock sighed. </p><p> </p><p>“Well, if I gave too much away you would figure it out too quickly.” She pointed out. Grimlock crossed his arms but said nothing else. He knew she was right.</p><p> </p><p>“Is it Windblade’s face?” He asked. Arcee shook her helm and had to keep herself from laughing when Grimlock gave her a <em> look </em>. He hated to lose. Absolutely hated it. Losing made him grumpy and it was all the more entertaining when it was over a pointless little game. </p><p> </p><p>“What about my face?” Windblade asked. They both jumped and looked behind them at the Caimen manning the station behind them. She was staring at them with one optic ridge raised through the holographic screens that floated in front of her. </p><p> </p><p>“Uhhh….” Arcee said quietly. “Nothing!” She said quickly, giving Windblade a wide smile that was too wide and showing too many of her denta. Both she and Grimlock turned away from the jet and continued to pretend to work at their stations. Arcee quickly glanced back at Windblade who was still staring at them, this time her optics were narrowed with suspicion. Arcee waved at her awkwardly before turning away feeling utterly stupid.  </p><p> </p><p>“You sure it’s not her face?” Grimlock asked, pulling Arcee’s attention back onto him, as he leaned in slightly and glanced at Arcee.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not her face, guess again.” Arcee growled, leaning over and gently elbowing the platter lining the side of his torso. </p><p> </p><p>“Okay, okay.” Grimlock said, throwing his servos up at chest height to calm the fuchsia warrior. Perhaps she had been too aggressive? She was still working on it. She had never been good with regulating her tone. </p><p> </p><p>“Sorry.” She mumbled. Grimlock either didn’t hear her or didn’t know why she was apologizing because he didn’t answer her. </p><p> </p><p>“So, it’s not the stars, your plating, the lines, or Windblade’s face.” Grimlock said thoughtfully, stroking his chin and looking around. “What could it be?” He asked himself. Arcee watched the Dinobot's optics drift over to Prime sitting in his seat, his digits also tapping away on the armrests. “Is it on Prime?” Grimlock asked.</p><p> </p><p>Arcee nodded. “You’re getting closer.” She said.  </p><p> </p><p>“It’s not <em> his </em> face is it?” Grimlock asked, raising his optics ridges. Arcee glanced at Windblade to see her giving them the strangest look. They must sound very strange for anyone who was listening in.</p><p> </p><p>Arcee gently smacked his shoulder. The grey mech chuckled, wincing slightly. “No, you lugnut.” Arcee said, unable to hide a small smile, no matter how hard she tried.</p><p> </p><p>“Technically that’s not white; it’s just really pale grey.” Grimlock said. Arcee sucked in a vent and glared at the mech next to her, pursing her lips. He chuckled, clearly not intimidated.</p><p> </p><p>“Just go with it.” She grumbled. She turned to look at their commander sitting in his chair. At that very moment Arcee could see him trying to desperately fight off a yawn. He fails. “I think it looks white.” Arcee said turning so she was facing in the correct direction. </p><p> </p><p>“Your optics are malfunctioning.” Grimlock said that same damn crooked grin had returned.</p><p> </p><p>“No yours are.” Arcee argued back.</p><p> </p><p>“I think you’ll find that you’re wron-” Grimlock said. </p><p> </p><p>“Never mind.” Arcee said, waving her servos around as if she was trying to catch the words coming out of Grimlock’s intake and stifle them. “Can we just continue?” Arcee asked. </p><p> </p><p>Grimlock sighed, rolling his optics. For that Arcee pushed his shoulder. He always said she hits too hard when she is playing, but with a bot his size, her playful punching should feel like little pebbles bouncing off his armor. Grimlock rubbed his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“Is it his waist plating?” Grimlock asked, now half turned in his chair. </p><p> </p><p>“Not quite.” Arcee said encouragingly. </p><p>    </p><p>“Is it his thighs?” Grimlock asked, turning around and giving Arcee a strange look. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee nodded. For a moment Grimlock paused as if his processor just crashed and was in the process of rebooting. “Of all things…” Grimlock said clasping his servos together. “You chose <em> that </em> ? <em> That </em> was your choice.” Grimlock asked positioning his clasped servos so all of his digit tips were pointing at her. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee shrugged. “Yeah, I wanted it to be difficult.” She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe. Grimlock looked at her incredulously.  </p><p> </p><p>“But you could have picked <em> anything else </em> in this room.” Grimlock said gesturing to the space around them. Arcee motioned for him to quiet down as his voice as starting to rise in pitch. He quickly dropped her voice again and looked around.  </p><p> </p><p>“I could have-” Arcee began with a playful smirk.</p><p> </p><p>“And you got the color wrong.” Grimlock quickly added. The grin slipped off of Arcee’s face and she had forgotten what she was going to say. </p><p> </p><p>“Just ignore that.” </p><p> </p><p>“There is a huge difference between white, and whatever grey color his <em> thighs </em>are.” Grimlock said a small laugh grumbled his words slightly. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s close enough to white.” Arcee argued back. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s not <em> even </em> close” </p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure-”</p><p> </p><p>“Nevermind, it’s my turn.” Grimlock said.</p><p> </p><p>“You stopped arguing because I’m right.” Arcee said, trying to see if she could egg Grimlock on any further. She held in her laugh when he threw her the most unamused look he could muster. </p><p> </p><p>“I stopped arguing because you're so darn stubborn.” He said turning away and looking around a ship for a color. Arcee sat silently. </p><p> </p><p>“Okay, I got it.” </p><p> </p><p>“Oka-”</p><p> </p><p>“And I made sure to get the color right.” </p><p> </p><p>“Can you just drop it?” Arcee asked, feeling color flood into her faceplate heaving it up. </p><p> </p><p>“Not until you admit that it was pale grey and not white.” </p><p> </p><p>“Never.” </p><p> </p><p>“Then I’m never dropping it.” Grimlock said, poking Arcee’s shoulder. She batted his servo away.</p><p> </p><p>“Whatever, what’s your color.” Arcee asked. </p><p> </p><p>“I spy something yellow.” Grimlock said. This was going to be easy, Arcee thought with a smirk. But then again she could be completely wrong, she countered herself, her smirk faltering. </p><p> </p><p>“Bumblebee?” She asked picking the most obvious choice. </p><p> </p><p>“No.” Grimlock said. Arcee was mildly disappointed that he didn’t react the way she thought he would but was still determined to find the color he had seen.</p><p> </p><p>“Is it a part of the <em> Ark? </em>” Arcee asked. </p><p> </p><p>“I would classify that as a yellowish orange.” Grimlock said, Arcee pursed her lips at him and he let out a small bark of laughter before stifling it. “So no.”</p><p> </p><p>“Is it the yellow flames on Hot Rod’s chest?” Arcee asked tilting her chair back trying to catch a glimpse of the young mech.</p><p> </p><p>“Close.” Grimlock said. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s not his thighs is it?” Arcee asked, raising her optic ridges at her station buddy.</p><p> </p><p>Grimlock let a little huff of air out of his olfactory vents that Arcee thought might have been a laugh. “Primus, <em> no </em>.” He said. “What's with your obsession with thighs today? It’s strange.” Grimlock asked, slightly narrowing his optics at her.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know.” Arcee said, shrugging. “And it’s only strange if you make it strange.” She added.</p><p> </p><p>“I think in this case it’s strange regardless.” Grimlock said. Arcee let her jaw drop in mock shock. She placed her servo over her spark for dramatic effect.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s his soldier isn’t it?” Arcee asked. </p><p> </p><p>“Bingo.” Grimlock said. Their timing was perfect. Just as their second game had finished Prime asked Teletraan X the joorly update on the ship's status.</p><p> </p><p>“Everything is a-okay.” Teletraan X said. Arcee could hear the collective sigh that everyone let out and was trying to keep to themselves. “But if it interests you, there is a solar system nearby and we will be crossing paths with one of its planets momentarily.” </p><p> </p><p>Almost everyone practically leaped out of their seats at this news. Even Optimus as much as he tried to control himself also reacted by sitting up in his seat his back strut straight at a pole rather than slouching into it like he had been moments before. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee shrugged and got up. Grimlock followed her moments later. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee scratched her body stiff from sitting for so long. Her limbs felt like they were made out of rusted metal and winced at her knowing joints groaned softly after underuse and then being used so suddenly. Arcee stretched her arms letting out a small groan.</p><p> </p><p>She and Grimlock walked over to the window to see a blue sphere in the dark abyss of space growing large and larger. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Windblade was relieved when Teletraan X had said that the <em> Ark </em> was approaching something. It had been a while since they had seen something interesting. But she had been grateful for the downtime, even if it had turned a little boring and repetitive. She supposed it was a way to balance out their last slag heap that could be called an adventure.</p><p> </p><p>The engines had almost exploded. One of Wheeljack’s experiments went awry and almost destroyed the little section of the ship he was working in. They had only just managed to get that situation under control before something else was demanding their attention.</p><p> </p><p>The sudden break had been nice, Windblade wasn’t sure when the last time she actually felt relaxed was. It was so strange how almost constant chaos could be so easily accepted as the norm, and how quickly when everything went back to being calm, no one knew what to do with themselves. </p><p> </p><p>The calmness had thrown her for a loop when she had exited her recharge cycle, even this morning. But despite the atmosphere, Windblade had woken up with the strangest feeling like something was going to happen today. She couldn’t tell if it was good, or bad she couldn’t tell. But her tank felt like there were butterflies fluttering inside of it as it performed somersaults on a trampoline. </p><p> </p><p>It was true that her senses had possibly been going wild after spending so long relaxed. Perhaps her subconscious didn’t think that it wasn’t actually real and this was all some dream.</p><p> </p><p>But it seemed that her senses weren’t <em> entirely </em> off. Something <em> had </em>(finally) happened today. It wasn’t anything monumental or life-changing, but it was something to take her processor off of the intense boredom that it was experiencing. Which was a welcomed change. </p><p> </p><p>Bumblebee was already at the window with his face nearly pressed up against it. She could see his expression in the reflection. She chuckled to herself when she saw the gleam of wonder in his optics as they slowly approached the planet. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey ‘Bee.” Windblade said once she was closer to him. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey.” He said after a minute, turning for a split second to acknowledge her before he turned back to the window. </p><p> </p><p>“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Windblade asked, moving in next to Bumblebee. She exhaled and a cloud of condensation covered the window. She used her servo and wiped the translucent white blotch from the glass. The glass was freezing cold. Almost painfully cold.</p><p> </p><p>She looked over at Bee to see both his servos were pressing into the glass, now along with his faceplate. </p><p> </p><p>“How can you do that, the glass is so cold?” Windblade asked. Bumblebee pulled away for a moment seemingly snapped out of a daze.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know.” He said with a shrug.</p><p> </p><p>As they moved closer Windblade noticed something orbiting the planet. She narrowed her optics trying to get a clearer view. She leaned in further, holding her breath to make sure that no condensation obstructed her vision. </p><p> </p><p>“ ’Bee do you see that?” Windblade asked gently, nudging the yellow bot with her elbow to get his attention. </p><p> </p><p>“See what?” He asked moving closer to her.</p><p> </p><p>“The thing orbiting the planet.” Windblade said.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, what is that?” He asked. </p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know.” Windblade said slowly. They came closer and closer to the planet and the strange object floating became more and more clear. It was made out of metal, Windblade could see the gleam of light bouncing off of it. It was donut shaped, but it wasn’t round and smooth like a donut, it’s edges were sharp and jagged. “Wait, is that- is that what I think that is?” She asked.</p><p> </p><p>“I think that’s a space bridge.” Bumblebee said his bright blue optics widening. “By the all-spark. It is! It is a space bridge.” Bumblebee said. “But what’s a space bridge doing here?” Bumblebee asked. </p><p> </p><p>“Maybe it was an old colony.” Windblade subjected. There was a run down and broken space bridge orbiting around her homeworld as well. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re probably right, but I don’t see any infrastructure.” Bumblebee said narrowing his optics and leaning further into the window. “I just see ocean.”</p><p> </p><p>“Teletraan X do you know anything about this place?” Windblade asked. “Is there anything about it in your data banks?”</p><p> </p><p>“Let me see.” Teletraan X said in a cheerful voice. “Would you look at that, you’re in luck I do have some information about this planet in my data banks.” The little drone’s voice said happily. “It would seem that this was a vacation spot!” </p><p> </p><p>But he didn’t get to finish his explanation because a small continuous beep sounded on one of the small screens. Windblade ran over to it seeing that it was at her station. </p><p> </p><p>Her optics widened in shock. She couldn’t believe it. It was an Autobot signal.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The Autobot's land on the strange planet only to find it's not what it seems. Optimus and Windblade go to find the signal while Arcee and Grimlock go exploring.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>::talking with coms::</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> An Unexpected World Of Wonders </span>
</p><p>Windblade had woken up this morning with a strange feeling like something was going to happen. But she hadn’t expecting it to be this.</p><p> </p><p>Windblade pressed the small flashing yellow square in the corner of the screen. The flashing stopped and a window popped up. It was a diagram of the planet slowly rotating in front of them. The diagram suddenly projected from the screen in the form of a glitching blue diagram, causing Windblade to jump back slightly. It was a ridiculous reaction, if the hologram were to touch her it would simply go through her.   </p><p> </p><p>The sphere on the screen was rolled as if it was rapidly rotating until a small string of islands on the other side of the planet was facing Windblade. Small white lines circled around on other small islands and brought it forward. On top of that island was the Autobot's signature red symbol. A few words began to scroll themselves across the screen. The first was the cooranents in the form of longitude and latitude, a line was drawn under it separating it from the other string of symbols. The other was a statement. Reading. <b>Unknown Autobot signal found</b>. </p><p> </p><p>Windblade’s optics widened. What was an Autobot signal doing here? She wondered. Was it possible that someone crashed here?  </p><p> </p><p>“What have you found Windblade?” Optimus asked. Windblade jumped forgetting that the red and blue mech was still behind her. He had stayed in his seat while everyone else gathered around the window. Through his helm did turn to look out the window at the world that they were now approaching. His foredigit gently tapped against the armrest.  </p><p> </p><p>“There was an unknown Autobot signal detected on the planet.” Windblade said, turning to look at the prime. His optic ridges raised with mild surprise and she could see little sparks of concern beginning to ignite in his optics. Windblade turned back to the screen when she heard a little pinging sound. It was the sound that the ship made when it was receiving a message. There was a small box hanging off the separation line. Windbalde tapped it with the tip of her digit. </p><p> </p><p>The box expanded and the recording started. She saw a bot that she had never seen before, it was hard to see her face given that she was looking down at her pedes. She was leaning against the console and her vents wheezed her helm hung low. The fem-bot looked terrible. Windblade could see a mass of scratches and dents riddling their armor. The armor itself was greying and cracked. A sign of malnutrition. But Windblade could see a hint of color still clinging to the bot’s armor. It looked like a muted green and what was once a pristine white. </p><p> </p><p>The fem-bot looked up. There was a mixture of sorrow and terror in her optics. Like the kind that slowly consumed one on the inside until they were nothing left but a shadow of who they once were. Windblade could tell that the fem-bot was broken, in more ways than one. When they began to speak, Windblade could hear the brokenness in their voice, the sound of a crushed spirit. Windblade felt her spark sink into her tanks.  </p><p> </p><p><em> “I have been tasked with making this call -not that I think anyone will hear us-” </em>  The bot lets out a bitter laugh <em> “-we are trapped on this planet, and are in dire need of help. Every orn our energon supply becomes less and less and we are running out of options. Our leader says that if this keeps up and no one comes we will be forced to go into stasis.-” </em> The video glitched as a terrifying audial splitting roar was heard. It was so loud that half of it was glitching into static as the speakers could not translate the volume. <em> “-we are in dire need of help, if anyone is out there-” </em> There was another roar and the recording froze before it cut to black.</p><p> </p><p>But before the screen had Windblade caught a glimpse of the creature that had been roaring. She couldn’t see much, it was just a blur of colors and shapes, but she could distinctly make out a column of grey with, it was just a blur like it was traveling at a supersonic speed. The fem-bot had been pushed completely out of frame. Windblade could no longer see her. Windblade leaned closer to the screen trying to figure out what this grey mass could possibly be. Upon a close look, Windblade thought she saw what looked like a massive suction cup lining the side of the mass of grey. It reminded Windblade of a massive tentacle.    </p><p> </p><p>Windblade’s optics were wide, and her mouth hung slightly open in shock. She checked when this recording had first been broadcast. Her spark sunk even lower until it was down at her pedes. This recording, this desperate plea for help had been made almost two million years ago and had been continuously broadcasting since then. It had been broadcasted in the middle of the war when everyone was too busy trying to survive on a dying world than to listen to transmissions from space. Were they even still alive? A dark thought curled into her mind. She pushed it away allowing it to shrink back into the back of her processor.</p><p> </p><p>Windblade felt a pang of guilt in her spark. She felt responsible for their loss, for not listening. She felt the feeling as a prickle of tears welled into her optics, but she pushed the feeling down and blinked the tears away. But she was unable to stop the feeling that a cloud of heat was hanging around her optics. She could only imagine how terrified these bots must have been, left alone to die on a world while they slowly starved to death and some creature chased after them,  hunting them down. </p><p> </p><p>Windblade slowly turned back around to Optimus, who’s digits had stopped absently tapping on the chair’s armrest and had decided to grip it so tightly Windblade was sure that the metal was going to break under his grasp. Prime looked just as disturbed as she did. If not more. His optics were wide and his jaw was clenched tight. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, <em> primus </em> .” She heard him say under his breath, his lips barely moved, it was like his voice was coming from a speaker hidden in the wall. She deceived not to respond to it, not entirely sure if it was directed at her, or if it was for himself. She looked at Prime’s face the longer she looked at it the more uncomfortable she got, she felt like all she wanted to do was to phase through the floor into a completely different room. He looked angry, but she wasn’t entirely sure when he was angry. She had seen Prime irritated before, but that is completely different from angry. She had never seen him <em>truly </em>angry, he was usually calmer. And she had to admit, if this was a little preview of what Prime was like when he was angry, she didn’t want to be there when he completely lost it.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you Windblade, you can rejoin your friends.” He said, his face returning to its neutral state, but she could still see turmoil in his optics. His voice however seemed to shake just a little bit, but if someone wasn’t paying enough attention they would have missed it entirely. Windblade nodded without saying a word. It frightened her, to say the least, a better word might have been jarred or unnerved, how quickly he switched from one emotion to another.  </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Bumblebee starred out the window watching the planet grow closer and closer. It looked like a giant blue glass marble floating through space. Bumblebee chuckled to himself at the thought. Even from here, he could see tiny islands surrounded by the vast oceans that covered almost the entire planet. </p><p> </p><p>The planet looked to be earth-sized, but while earth was mostly covered in water, it was not covered in <em>this</em> much water. </p><p> </p><p>“I’ve never seen other planets besides earth before.” Cheetor said excitedly his green optics were wide with energetic excitement and sparkled with wonder. He had moved into Windblade’s spot when that pinging sound was heard. He wondered what it was about, but that question was quickly thrown out of his processor when he laid his optics on the planet once again. It was beautiful, all he wanted to do was stare at it. In the darkness of space, it almost seemed to glow a strange blueish green light. Like an aura was surrounding it. </p><p> </p><p>Cheetor looked like an excited sparkling looking through the window of a candy shop. “I wish we could go there.” He said with a small sigh. “It looks like it would be so much fun.” </p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.” Bumblebee agreed, a small smile stretching across his face as he watched his friend’s child-like excitement. </p><p> </p><p>Windblade slowly walked up next to Bumblebee. At first he didn’t even recognize that she was there. She simply stood silently, her gaze was clouded as if she was watching something happen from far in the future. But then he felt the presents of a familiar field that wasn’t Cheetors and realized that it was Windblade. He turned around to greet her but she wasn’t looking at him. Her gaze was locked onto the window, and more specifically they followed the planet as they drew near. Her optics were wide. She looked as if she had seen a ghost.</p><p> </p><p>“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Bumblebee chuckled putting his servos on his hips. But Windblade didn’t laugh, and soon his laughter died too. “Windblade?” He asked, stepping forward. “Windblade?” He asked again, reaching toward and gently taking her servo into his. She jumped violently as if she had been prodded with an electric rod. “Are you alright?” He asked.</p><p> </p><p>Windblade blinked a few times before looking up at him. A smile spread across her faceplate, but it didn’t reach her optics. Her optics still looked clouded and afraid. “Yeah, ‘Bee I’m alright.” She said softly placing a servo onto his shoulder and squeezing it gently. </p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure?” he asked, curving his arm so his servo gently rested against hers. There was a pause, it was as if Windblade wore an expression like she was trying to swallow a mouthful of gravel, it was like she was contemplating something difficult. </p><p> </p><p>“Definitely! I’m fine.” She finally said after a few kliks of silence filled with the soft chatter of the bots around them. She waved her servo and let out a little laugh. Bumblebee returned her smile with a little laugh of his own. Windblade turned away from him and continued to watch the little planet. Once he was sure she wouldn’t notice the smile slid off of his face and was replaced with a concerned frown. What was wrong with Windblade? She looked disturbed in some way.</p><p> </p><p>He wanted to press her on it, but it was clear if he tried to bring it up she was simply going to avoid it. Maybe he could ask her about it later when she calmed down. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Grimlock starred out the window marveling at the planet just ahead. He was talking but to Arcee his voice sounded muted as if it was being spoken through a thick layer of glass. Arcee’s attention was not on the Dinobot. Instead, it was on Windblade. She had heard that annoying pinging sound informing the entire crew that the ship had received a transmission, <em> that </em> had piqued her interest. She had watched Windblade answer the transmission. She couldn’t read the words that had popped up on the screen, but she had seen the autbot’s symbol plastered across a string of islands on the planet hologram.</p><p> </p><p>What it seemed to Arcee was that there was at least an autobot ship down on the planet sending out a transmission to anyone who was willing to listen. She wasn’t so sure about the mecha who were on board the ship, this planet didn’t look like it was built for cybertronian. It didn’t look like it had any energon on it unless it was below the crushing depths of thousands of kilometers of water. There were no discernable landmasses, which wouldn’t be a problem for bots with aquatic alt-modes but many bots did not have aquatic alt-modes. There were only tiny land masses smaller that formed long chains. </p><p> </p><p>Windblade had played a transmission sent up by the ship, Arcee hadn’t seen the visual, nor could she hear the audio and after Windblade had watched the recording, she wasn’t very much like herself after that. She didn’t have that underlying smile that always curved her lips. And the way she walked was almost like she was weightless, like not all of herself was there anymore. </p><p> </p><p>Whatever she had seen had startled her. That was for certain. Prime suddenly stood up. </p><p> </p><p>“Autobot.” He addressed them. The buzz of talking voices ceased and the room was willed with a deafening silence. It was a moment before Prime spoke again. “There has been an autobot signal transmitted to us from this planet.” Arcee glanced to see the other bot’s reactions. She stifled a laugh as she watched optics widen to the point where they looked like they were going to bulge out of the sockets they were in. “We will investigate, and if there are any alive we will bring them back to the Ark.”</p><p> </p><p>“What about the rest of us-” Hot Rod asked. Everyone turned to look at him, their once slack faces hardening. He shrunk back, with a sheepish smile on his face. “Sorry for the interruption.” He said quietly. </p><p> </p><p>Optimus returned his gaze to the small crowd. “The rest of you will be allowed to explore the planet.” Optimus said, he sat back down concluding his little pep talk. If it could be called that. There was a little ‘whoop’ that came from Hot Rod’s direction. Arcee smiled.        </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It was the first time in a while the <em> Ark </em> flew down to a planet. Usually, a select few bots would just climb aboard the shuttle and fly down, but everyone was going to visit this world. It would be a nice little detour. Windblade’s processor was running at a mile a minute, Prime was making a mistake, he had seen the broadcast. He saw that creature. Part of her doubted his decision, but the other half knew that Prime would never put her crew in harm's way on purpose. Not on <em> purpose </em> , but possibly by <em> accident </em>. That same dark voice in her head snickered. She pushed it back into the back of her mind.</p><p> </p><p>“I can’t believe it,” Cheetor said, practically vibrating with excitement. “I get to see another planet other than earth!” The beast-former's optics were bright. Windblade tried to smile for him, but all the happiness, or mild contentment she had felt throughout the orn, had gone out the window. After seeing that transmission, all Windblade could feel was dread. But she offered him a smile anyway trying to force the feeling down. Maybe the creature is long dead, it was almost two million years ago.  </p><p> </p><p>The ark slowly tilted as it slowly descended into the planet’s atmosphere. Wisps of fire sometimes danced in front of the window as the <em> Ark </em> moved further down as the atmosphere seemed to push back against the massive ship. At first it seemed like there was nowhere to land, Windbalde wasn’t sure if she felt relieved or disappointed. But they found an island that was big enough to hold at least three <em> Ark </em>s at the same time. The island was completely barren and was covered in a mix of yellowish white sand Windblade had seen on earth, and jet black sand.</p><p> </p><p>The <em> Ark </em>landed with a loud hiss of hydraulics. Windblade covered her audials at the volume, she had never heard something so loud before, it reminded her of a giant angry snake hissing. Everyone filed out of the control room and down to one of the many exits. </p><p> </p><p>Windblade squinted when she stepped out onto the planet. The sun was bright, and it was high in the sky. This planet had many similarities with Earth like relative size, and distance from its star. But one of the ones it did not share was massive mountains and tall trees that blocked the sun’s rays from directly shining down on you. Out here there was nothing. Accepted the water. Windblade stepped back a little bit after looking to the endless blue depths of the ocean. She couldn't see even a few feet down, it was all just blue.</p><p> </p><p>“Windblade.” A deep voice said behind her. Windblade jumped and whipped around to see Optimus standing behind her looking rather confused by her reaction.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry,” Windblade forced a chuckle. “You startled me.” </p><p> </p><p>“I can see that.” Optimus said, a soft smile forming on his faceplate. “I apologize.” He said she could see a holographic screen popping out of Optimus’s arm. It looked like it was sporting a map, there was a pulsating white Autobot signal on it.  </p><p> </p><p>“It’s fine.” Windblade said brushing it off and activating her own screen activating the tracking and map features on it. When it first booted up it showed her location in a red symbol and then it moved to the location emitting the signal. It seemed that the signal was not too far off from here. She walked a little closer to the other side of the small island covering her optic ridges with her servo to block the sunlight so she could see better. In the distance, she thought she saw another string of islands. “I see something.” She said. She looked down at her map again, it seemed that the signal was coming from that area. </p><p> </p><p>Optimus followed her mincing her movement. “I think they might be over there.” She said.</p><p> </p><p>“I agree.” Optimus nodded. “We will need a shuttle to get over there.” He stated. They turned to get back to the <em> Ark</em>. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>“Race you to the water Cheetor!” Bumblebee said sprinting away the moment he spoke leaving Cheetor slightly disgruntled before he could react. </p><p> </p><p>“Hey!” Cheetor cried after Bumblebee. “That's unfair.” He ran after the yellow bot and he almost caught up with him before ‘Bee jumped into the water. Cheetor followed him, his servos outstretched trying to grab a hold of him, but he too was pulled into the water. “Woah.” Cheetor said as he dove helm first into the blue depths below.</p><p> </p><p>The cheetah-former squeezed his optics shut as the cold water surrounded him, he felt himself sink. But then he heard laughter. ::It’s okay, open your optics.:: He heard Bumblebee over the com-link. Cheetor opened his optics slowly before they widened. </p><p> </p><p>The world around them was a beautiful array of colors and animals that he had never seen before. There were creatures that looked kind of like fish from earth that he had seen in documentaries. But they had strange little features. A tiny little sparkling blue minnow swam past him just as another fish darted out, its mouth opened vertically and swallowed the little minnow whole.</p><p> </p><p>He looked down at his kicking limbs and was a creature that looked like a cross between a jellyfish and a crab walking along the rock side. Its bulbous head looked like a bubble, and he could see inside of it, its pinkish-purple brain pulsed, and six bready black eyes glanced at him through its head. Its long black legs scuttle along the rock side, trying to escape him and he drew near.</p><p> </p><p>::This place is amazing:: He said through the coms. </p><p> </p><p>::I know.:: ‘Bee agreed with him. ::I didn’t think someplace could have so much color:: Bumblebee said. Cheetor laughed, it was a rather hard thing to do, he opened his mouth and water rushed into his vents. Not that it was a problem, he could breathe just fine, but the sensation was something to get used to. He coughed at first trying to suck air into his vents, but only took in more water. He began to sputter. Bumblebee swam over to him.</p><p> </p><p>::It’s okay, just vent like you normally would, don’t think about it:: He said pulling his servo onto Cheetor’s shoulder. Cheetor tried to calm down and slowly breathed in, the sensation still felt weird but after a few slow breaths he began to get used to it. </p><p> </p><p>::There you go!:: ‘Bee said encouragingly. ::Feel better?:: He asked. Cheetor nodded. ::Then let’s go!” Bumblebee said taping Cheetor’s servo into his own and pulling him. Cheetor swam after the yellow bot.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Arcee jumped off of the side of the island and into the blue depths below her. Grimlock stayed on the land unsure if he wanted to go into the water. Arcee had rolled her optics, but understood. She had seen Bumblebee and Cheetor jump off one side so she jumped off of the other side not wanting to crowd a space. It was only two other bots but they were big and three bots could reality be overwhelming if things go tight.</p><p> </p><p>Just as her helm broke the surface to look up at Grimlock, one of the <em> Ark</em>’s shuttles came out of its hanger making a sharp turn, and began to fly towards the direction that Arcee had been jumping in. “See Grim, it’s not that bad.” She said over the sound of the shuttle’s engines. </p><p> </p><p>She could see Grimlock contemplating before he seemingly agreed with her. “I suppose it’s not too bad.” He shrugged and slowly stepped into the water. He walked forward until the land just dropped off, about when the waves were about waist height on him, and he dropped under. Arcee followed him. She swam towards him, as he kicked and flailed, but with no use, he began to sink. She placed a gentle servo on his shoulder and he looked up.</p><p> </p><p>::I don’t like this.:: Grimlock said through the coms, after opening his mouth to speak and all that came out were bubbles of air and a muted voice that sounded as if someone was trying to speak through a pillow. </p><p> </p><p>::It’s going to be fine, just relax.:: Arcee said. They sunk lower and lower until their pedes touched the sandy ocean floor.</p><p> </p><p>::I’m trying, I’m not used to this feeling.:: Grimlock said, his vents growing slower, Arcee could feel the tension in his body slowly beginning to seep out of it. ::What are we doing here anyway?:: Grimlock asked. ::Oh no- you’re not following Prime and Windblade are you?:: He asked but the tone of his voice already told Arcee he knew the answer to his own questions, he just didn’t want to answer it. </p><p> </p><p>::That’s exactly what we’re gonna do.:: She said. She watched as Grimlock rolled his optics. </p><p> </p><p>::Why can’t we just relax and enjoy a little vacation?:: Grimlock asked, his voice becoming somewhat of a whine. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee didn’t answer him; she just walked forward. A cloud of dirt and sand rose up around her legs as her pedes kicked up it. The tan cloud swirling with the water around it. ::Arcee!:: Grimlock hissed over the coms. She still didn’t respond. </p><p> </p><p>::You don’t have to come.:: She said. She didn’t turn around to look at the dinobot. But she heard him sigh through the coms. A little smile perked up her lips knowing that he wouldn’t just abandon her.</p><p> </p><p>::Next time we’re doing things my way.:: Grimlock proclaimed with a grumble. Arcee laughed, it was really just a gurgle in the water. </p><p> </p><p>::Sure.:: Arcee commed back. They swam through the pillar of rocks that seemed to have a large gap between them. The gap didn’t look natural, it was too sharp to have been a natural diverge of the two faces. And the rock was still intact on the bottom. It looked like pieces had been carved out of it.  </p><p> </p><p>Coral grew on the top of the rocks, they reminded Arcee of tiny little colorful cities underwater. Animals darted out of their way as they swam past. Some of the strangest looking creatures she had ever seen. There was a fish-like creature, she wasn’t entirely sure if it was a fish, it had front fins that looked normal enough but it’s backside was a massive if squirming tentacles that seemed to each possessed a mind of their own, some reached out and touched the rocks around it, others just seemed to feel the water for something. And others seemed to be propelling the creature forward.</p><p> </p><p>Another creature they passed was slowly climbing its way down the rock until their movement through the water sent a wake that knocked it off. It tumbled to the small little space where the two rocks converged together. It looked like a disk with legs. There didn’t appear to be any discernible features like eyes or a mouth it was just a disk. </p><p> </p><p>They followed the valley between the two rock faces for a while, Arcee wasn’t entirely sure how long they had been walking twenty kliks, a joor? She didn’t know. All she knew was that they followed it until it just stopped. It was like whatever had made this little rift had just been pulled out. A massive wall stood in front of Grimlock and Arcee. She could see the various layers of rock, each a slightly different shade from the layers around it. </p><p> </p><p>They both swam upwards and were met with a new world. There were barren patches of rock and there were places where the coral seemed to grow out of control. Long colorful extensions grew like tree branches, there were some that looked like a brain carved from a rock. And there were some that looked like large flat wrinkled leaves. It was all very strange. There was even more aquatic fauna.</p><p> </p><p>Arcee kept swimming until her pedes touched the new surface. She walked on the surface until it seemed to just drop off into dark blue depths. She hadn’t noticed it until the last minute when she suddenly stopped herself. Grimlock wasn’t able to stop in time and ran into her from behind. He stumbled back, and Arcee felt forward. </p><p> </p><p>The pink and white bot tried to grab onto something but she couldn’t. She felt herself beginning to drift downwards towards the endless blue depths, the endless blue water pulling her down. And she would have if it were not for Grimlock’s servo quickly, or as quickly as cybertronianly possible through the water, and grabbed a hold of her ankle.</p><p> </p><p>They waited there for a moment. ::You need to watch where you are going.:: Grimlock commed. She could hear the laughter in his voice. Arcee grumbled softly. But she knew she couldn't argue with him, he wasn’t wrong. All she could do was sigh. </p><p> </p><p>She looked down at the depths before noticing a strange shadow. Maybe it was just her optics playing tricks on her but Arcee swore she could see a shadow in the depths. Either it was a massive creature lurking at the bottom of the ocean, she felt a stab of fear at that one, maybe it was just a rock face, or maybe it was something else. She looked up at Grimlock. </p><p> </p><p>::Do you see that shadow down there?:: She asked tilting upwards to look at the grey dinobot.</p><p> </p><p>::Down where?:: Grimlock asked. Arcee pointed. Grimlock leaned forward squinting his optics. ::I do see that shadow. What is is?:: He asked. Arcee shrugged. </p><p> </p><p>::Drop me I want to find out.:: Arcee said. </p><p> </p><p>::No!:: Grimlock said. ::I will not drop you, you have no clue what is down there, it could be nothing.:: He tried to reason.</p><p> </p><p>::But what if it <em> is </em> something?:: Arcee asked. </p><p> </p><p>::It’s not worth the risk.:: Grimlock said, his voice matter of fact, almost condescending as if Arcee should already know this. </p><p> </p><p>::It might be.:: Arcee said. ::Let go.:: She said. </p><p> </p><p>::No it’s a bad idea..:: Grimlock growled. His voice low and gravelly through Arcee’s com. She squirmed and wiggled, his grip on her tightened. ::Arcee,:: Grimlock said his voice losing the hardness now being replaced with mild fear. ::Arcee stop you’re pulling me with you.:: Grimlock said the fear in his voice was rising. </p><p> </p><p>::Then let go!:: Arcee said.</p><p> </p><p>::No.:: Grimlock said stubbornly. </p><p> </p><p>::Then you’re coming with me!:: Arcee said, her voice now holding a matter-of-fact tone. She squeezed her optics shut and she kicked and trashed until she felt weightless again. She opened her optics to see a very unamused look on his face. A scowl twisted his lips downward.</p><p> </p><p>::This had better be worth it.:: He growled. His voice a low rumble through the comlink, that made even Arcee feel a little stab of fear in her stark. She offered him a sheepish smile that made his scowl only grow.</p><p> </p><p>The water became darker as they sunk lower and lower into the water. And the shadow became more and more clear. It was something, but she still couldn’t quite see, but it was definitely not organic. Arcee twisted in the water. Grimlock let go of her ankle. She squinted her optics, it looked like it was made out of metal. She kicked her limbs to bring herself closer. The metal was dull and some of it was covered in sea plants. The wispy green leaves danced as the water moved around it. </p><p> </p><p>::By Primus is that a ship?:: Grimlock asked as their pedes reached the rocky floor. They stepped closer. The closer they got the more they could make out of it. It was an impressive chunk of the ship and it looked like parts of it were sealed off. The cockpit however was not, the front windows had been smashed in, the tip of the ship was covered in dents and scratched.</p><p> </p><p>They swam forward. Arcee shifted position and picked some of the cockpit glass in. ::What are you doing?:: Grimlock asked. ::There is a door right here!:: He said. Arcee looked up to see him half standing in a doorway with his servos on his hips. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee gave him another sheepish smile and swam over to the door. Grimlock stepped in to allow her space. The door in front of them was covered by a steel plate that blocked everything from wildlife to water from seeping in. Now the question was how to get in. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The shuttle landed, Optimus and Windblade disembarked. Windblade looked at her map, they were getting close. She looked up and around at the surrounding area. It was just as barren and sandy as the island they had landed on.</p><p> </p><p>“There doesn’t seem to be much here.” Windblade commenting. </p><p> </p><p>“Indeed.” Optimus agreed, looking at the map. “The broadcasting sight is not far from here, we must keep moving.” Optimus said stepping forward. </p><p> </p><p>“Right.” Windblade said following him. They walked for a while. Windblade watched as her little signal grew closer and closer to the white Autobot insignia. The sand felt weird against her pedes. She could feel the tiny grains of it grinding against the intricate designs under her pedes. It both tickled and kind of hurt at the same time. </p><p> </p><p>She was going to have to spend a while in the wash racks if she wanted any hope of getting clean after this. She hated how the sand moved under her, how it seemed to squish out from under her pede. She was used to walking on even ground. She supposed she was just going to have to get used to it. </p><p> </p><p>She kept her helm up high looking out for anything that might be broadcasting the signal. She paused when she saw something in the distance. The sun’s harsh light made the object simply look like a shadow, but as they got closer she was able to make out more of it. </p><p> </p><p>It looked like half a ship. But just half a ship, the end was facing towards the land, and the broken half looked as if two giant hands had ripped it in half. Windblade felt a stab of fear when her mind wandered back to the giant tentacle. Had that <em>thing</em>, whatever that tentacle been attached to, torn the ship to pieces? Were the Autobots on the ship even still alive? Were they on that half of the ship?</p><p> </p><p>“Optimus look.” She said pointing to the broken half of the ship. She looked at the map seeing that her symbol was almost touching the broadcasting symbol. They both deactivated their maps and ran towards the ship fragment. </p><p> </p><p>Windblade and Optimus went around the front side of the ship and peered into the gaping hole. The metal on the ship’s outside looked relatively untouched apart from the obvious scratch marks probably made by that creature.</p><p> </p><p>The inside of the ship was dark, but the sunlight shining through the windows, which were surprisingly still intact, offered just enough light to see in. They stepped inside, the metal groaned softly. They walked further into the hull.</p><p> </p><p>Windblade looked around and saw something that looked like a computer system embedded in the wall, not too different from the <em> Ark </em>’s. Windblade stepped towards it slowly as if she was trying to defuse a time bomb with only kliks before it went off. The moment she touched the console, the screen lit up. There was a cheerful little tune played as the computer greeted them. </p><p> </p><p>“<b>A-au-authoriz-zation?</b>” The computer asked, it’s voice glitching in and out and it’s pitch rising and falling with the glitches. Windblade wasn’t sure how to respond knowing the way Teletraan X reacted when he first met her; she wondered if this computer system wouldn’t recognize her as well. </p><p> </p><p>Seeming to sense her worry Optimus stepped forward and spotted clearly, “Optimus Prime.” The computer went silent for a moment computing his response. </p><p> </p><p>“<b>G-greet-ting O-Opti-imus Pri-ime. I-I a-am S-Sigma.</b> ” The computer said. “ <b>E-E-Elita O-One Wi-ill b-be so happy to se-ee you.</b>” The bot chirped cheerfully. Windblade turned to Optimus wondering who this Elita One was to see his face. He wore an almost unreadable expression. His optics were wide and she could almost see the gears turning in his helm. </p><p> </p><p>“She was here? On this ship?” He asked his voice barely above a whisper. He sounded broken. Almost as broken as the fem-bot on the screen.</p><p> </p><p>“<b>T-that is corr-rect.</b>” The computer chirped. It seemed blissfully unaware that it’s ship was in pieces. Windblade watched as the color seemed to drain from Prime’s face, his mouth hung open with a loss of words. Suddenly his mask snapped shut over half of his face. </p><p> </p><p>“Oh, Primus.” She could barely hear him, his voice was so soft. "No, no, no no no, no." Optimus breathed out. He backed up, his back hitting the wall. The moment his body met a solid structure he seemed to almost collapse. Windbalde rushed to catch him but he managed to catch himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Optimus?" Windblade asked softly, feeling her spark sinking into her tanks. But she got no response. </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Under the ocean really was a beautiful place. Cheetor thought. He looked up to see the sun’s light shining through the water. There were so many strange, wonderful creatures. There were giant schools made up of tiny fish no bigger than the pad on his pinky digit. Some were iridescent red, or orange depending on the angle that he looked at them. There were some that had silver scales that sparkled in the sunlight. A fish whose body height was larger than double his height slowly swam past them and a massive eye looked at them lazily as they swam around. </p><p> </p><p>Most of the other bots had decided to stay on the land. Cheetor supposed that being in an aquatic environment was not for everyone. It took him a while to get used to the feeling of water flowing through his seams and breathing water into his vents. But once he had gotten used to it, it didn’t seem too bad.</p><p> </p><p>Some bots hung their legs over the side of the island, dipping them into the water. Cheetor wondered if he could pull them in but then decided against it seeing as they would probably be angry with him afterward. </p><p> </p><p>He and Bumblebee swam further and further into the aquatic environment. Cheetor watched in amazement as the further he went the more creatures seemed to appear. He watched as a sea turtle-like creature lazily floated past him. But it was most definitely not a turtle. It had eight fins instead of four, a pair sticking out of each arm or leg opening in its shell. And it had a single wide eye that sat in the middle of its forehead. The eye darted around watching Cheetor and ‘Bee but didn’t seem too concerned to do anything about it. </p><p> </p><p>Cheetor stopped when the land began to slope, he could no longer see what was a few feet in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>::What’s wrong?:: ‘Bee asked.</p><p> </p><p>::Nothing, let’s keep going.:: Cheetor responded shaking his helm, trying to shake the feeling that something was lurking right behind him. His spark felt like it was doing backflips in his chest. Bumblebee went ahead of him patting him on the shoulder. Cheetor just to make sure that nothing really was looking at him craned his neck to look behind him. There was nothing. Nothing but lazy ocean life milling around going about their orn. </p><p> </p><p>He turned back around feeling kind of silly and followed after ‘Bee. He still couldn’t shake the feeling and it had graduated to his tanks feeling funny. It felt like it was a writhing mass of tentacles rather than his digestive system. </p><p> </p><p>::’Bee:: Cheetor commed. ::’Bee where are you?:: Cheetor asked again. </p><p> </p><p>::Don’t move.:: He heard over the comlink. Cheetor suddenly froze.</p><p> </p><p>::What is it ‘Bee?:: He asked slowly, feeling himself beginning to tremble. He should have listened to his instincts.</p><p> </p><p>::Did you hear that?:: Bumblebee asked. </p><p> </p><p>::Hear what?:: Cheetor asked. ::If you’re playing a prank on me, it’s not funny.:: Cheetor said, his voice growing defensive.</p><p> </p><p>::I’m not trying to prank you, listen.:: ‘Bee said over the com. The comlink went silent and Cheetor listened for a few kliks. At first, he heard nothing, he was going to take ‘Bee’s word that he wasn’t trying to prank him. Maybe he had just heard the sound of the ocean in his audials and mistook it for something else? Cheetor wondered. But then he heard it. A deep rumbling gurgle rose from the depths in front of him. Cheetor froze. </p><p> </p><p>::On the count of three swim as fast as you can out of here.:: ‘Bee said. ::I don’t know what is out there but it’s big, and it sounds angry… One… two… three!:: Bumblebee shouted over the coms. </p><p> </p><p>Cheetor tried to turn and swim but he lost his balance on the rocks and tumbled forward. He tried to grab a hold of something, but everything was spinning and his servos were shaking making it impossible to grab a hold of anything. He tried to grab the rock around him, but instead of missing, he fell down the sloping underwater hill and down towards the creature. </p><p> </p><p>::Cheetor! Where are you, I told you to swim up!:: He heard ‘Bee shout over the coms. Cheetor winced.</p><p> </p><p>::I’m trying.:: Cheetor said. He kicked his limbs, but it was like there were invisible servos grabbing a hold of him and pulling him down, further and further down. He heard another roar. He shook as he felt the vibrations rattled through the water and coarse through his frame. </p><p> </p><p>He kicked his limbs and tried to swim up, but he felt himself beginning to freeze with fear. He felt his limbs locking up and became sluggish. He kicked and kicked and tried to trod as much water as he could but it was no use.</p><p> </p><p>He sank lower and lower and the light grew even less until his aft met the rough and uneven surface of a cliffside. He looked down, the depths below him, were swallowed up by darkness. He felt his tanks churn at the thought of being stuck down there. He looked behind him to see a little cave. He pushed himself back further into the cave and huddled into himself. </p><p> </p><p>A shadow began to grow from the endless blue in front of him. He squinted his optics until he saw it. The creature was massive. A mane of writhing tentacles surrounded its long reptilian face. A massive yellow eye, the pupil easily the size of his helm, peered at him. The creature huffed angrily as if knowing it wouldn’t be able to catch him. </p><p> </p><p>He jumped when his com went off. ::Cheetor! Cheetor, are you there?:: A frantic voice shouted over the comlink. </p><p> </p><p>::Yes, I’m here.:: Cheetor conformed trying to keep his voice steady. The creature swam upwards with a massive tail and back fins causing a rush of water to slam against Cheetor. It pushed him back against the wall. Pain shot from his back and ran up his spinal strut. Warnings popped up telling him of minor damage to his back plating. </p><p> </p><p>::Stay where you are I’m coming for you.:: ‘Bee said over the com and then it went dark again. Cheetor shrunk further into the shallow cave carved into the side of the rocky cliff. He waited. He shifted himself trying to peer out to see if he could catch a glimpse of the creature, but it seemed to be gone.</p><p> </p><p>It looked too big to fit on the little reef, once they got up there they would be safe. What was a creature so big doing here anyway? Did it feed on creatures that strayed too far from the reef’s safety? Those creatures were very small compared to what he had just seen, they would barely be a snack for it. </p><p> </p><p>He waited for a bit longer, a feeling of hopelessness clawed at his spark, threatening to consume him. What was that thing? Would they be able to escape it? He wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his helm against his knees. He shut his optics and waited. </p><p> </p><p>::Hey.:: He heard a voice say through the coms. He jumped and looked up to see Bumblebee troding water in front of his little hiding place. He offered Cheetor a servo which he gladly took. Bumblebee took his servo and pulled him out of the cave. </p><p> </p><p>Cheetor clung to him feeling oddly safe in his friend's arms. He knew that if that thing came back it could easily swallow them whole, but nevertheless having someone here was a comfort.</p><p> </p><p>::I need you to swim, I can’t swim for both of us.:: Bumblebee said. They both kicked their legs. Bumblebee’s servo never left Cheetor’s back. They made it to the reef before Cheetor turned his helm to see the creature charging towards them, its tail thrashing back and forth propelling its body forward. It’s snapping jowls open and reading to tear them to pieces. </p><p> </p><p>They both pulled themselves up onto the reef. The creature swam past them sending a wake that pushed them back. Cheetor looked around. All of the wildlife had swum away. The environment was now barren and empty.</p><p> </p><p>They swam back and pulled themselves to the short line where they clambered out. Cheetor needed help getting out, his limbs felt weak like jelly. Bumblebee pulled him onto the shore. </p><p> </p><p>Cheetor looked up in time to see a massive fin sticking out of the water. It was bright red, and it looked like a massive organic sail. The rest of the creature back slowly rose out of the water, before disappearing back under the surface. </p><p> </p><p>Cheetor was never going into the water again.  </p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>It had taken them a while but they managed to get the door opened and were then met with another door. But they figured out that they needed to close the first door to open the second door. How? They weren’t even sure themselves. They concluded the ship was still trying to seal off the rest of the ship from the ocean around it. The gap between the two doors was just large enough to let a bot stand sideways in it with just a few inches of room to move around. </p><p> </p><p>They walked past the first door, it closed. Arcee felt a sense of claustrophobia as the tip of his nose almost pressed against the second door. There was very little room to move around in. The water that surrounded them began to drain. Once it was all out there was a soft pinging sound.  </p><p> </p><p>::Ready?:: Grimlock asked. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee nodded,::Yes.:: Grimlocked pressed a button on a small panel hidden from Arcee’s view. The door slid open with a hiss and they stepped into the ship's hull. </p><p> </p><p>The ship was dark. Arcee activates the lights attached to her body. Two beams of white light shot out from between her neck and shoulders near her collar plating. But the light only illuminated a part of the ship. They looked around. </p><p> </p><p>“Jeez this place looks a little rough, don’t you think?” Arcee asked with a chuckle. </p><p> </p><p>“Well it had been split in half, and left under the ocean for however long it’s been.” Grimlock said. “I’m actually surprised it’s still intact.” Grimlock said putting his hands on his hips and looking around with an almost impressed expression on his face. Arcee noticed a strange figure in the hull of the ship and moved towards it.</p><p> </p><p>Grimlock followed her. They both paused when they heard the metal of the ship groan and creak under their pedes. They looked at each other, looks of fear plastered on their faces. The creaking suddenly stopped and they continued. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee stepped closer to the figure to see that it was a stasis pod. She creased her optic ridges and moved around it. The glass top of the pod was dark making it impossible to see. Arcee touched the pod running her servo along the tattered and old edges. Her digits brushed against a few buttons before she pressed them without thinking.</p><p> </p><p>The pod sprung open. Arcee jumped back in time to jump right in the path of a falling body. She writhing on the floor going into complete panic mode. Grimlock gently lifted the body up off of her and turned it over so whoever it was was laying on their back. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee sat up feeling slightly stupid and mostly jarred. She looked up at Grimlock and saw his face. He looked as if he was looking at a ghost from his past. Arcee turned to look at what he was looking at and froze when she realized that she was looking at the face of Elita One. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Grimlock and Arcee open the pods one by one and find that one of them is still functioning. While on the surface Optimus and Windblade see the most peculiar thing.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>PCB - Post Conflict Begining</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span class="u"> New Friends And Old Enemies </span>
</p><p>“I- I don’t believe it. I thought she was dead.” Grimlock said, his usually loud and confident voice, sometimes verging on too loud, was now quiet and almost quivering. Arcee looked up at him and she saw his face. His optics were side and the bright white centers of them had shrunk considerably. He was visibly shaking, he could barely keep his servos steady and the rest of his body was shaking as well. The sound of platting lightly tapping against each other filled the chunk of vessel they occupied. Arcee reached up and gently placed one servo onto his trying to comfort him. She curled her thin digits around his blocky ones. He flinched at her touch, jerking his servo out of her grasp. Arcee pulled her servo back and placed it on the ground next to her, she waited for him to calm down. Eventually, Grimlock let out a heavy ex-vent and stepped towards her, his pedes clunking against the metal of the vessel they were inside. He sat down with a grunt and gently placed his servo onto hers. Arcee gingerly curled her digits around his once more, she felt him tense once again before relaxing and allowing her to touch him. </p><p> </p><p>She looked up at him and offered him a small smile. He returned the smile but it didn’t reach his optics, instead, it was as hollow and empty as the inside of the ship they now sat upon. Arcee let out a little sigh and looked down at the body of the autobot commander. She lay motionless almost like she was dead, but she wasn’t far from the real thing. Stasis in many ways was like death, one's vital functions were no longer online, and sometimes their sparks energy was so low that it wasn’t detectable on a scanner. </p><p> </p><p>Elita’s optics were dark as her pitch-black sockets stared aimlessly at the ceiling. Arcee could see that much of the color had drained from Elita’s frame, even in the dim light, Arcee could see the armor that had once been a vibrant pink was now a dull shade of faded pinkish-grey. It was a sign of malnutrition, one of the first things to go was a bot’s color when their outer nanites were no longer able to function as well as they had before, due to an energy shortage. But that wasn’t the only thing that Arcee took notice of, she also saw cracks and scratched in her armor as well. The cracks could be explained by the energy deficiency that she obviously had been facing before they went into stasis pods. Armor often became brittle and weak when one didn’t have enough fuel. But the scratches were deep like the blade of a knife had been slashed across her. That wasn’t a sign of malnutrition and Arcee had no clue what could have made those, when a bot was in top shape there was very little a non-cybertronian could do to damage them. Of course, Elita was not in top shape, but she wasn’t as bad as some Arcee had seen. So whatever had made those marks was very <em> very </em> strong. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee felt a chill run down her back strut, she felt herself visibly shutter as the cold seemed to seep into her limbs and trickle all the way to her core. It was like someone had allowed a drop of water to slide down her back. She felt Grimlock shift, she glanced up at him to see his optics,  which had dimmed since the last moment she had looked at him, glowing with concern. She furrowed his optics ridges at her for a moment. Arcee waved her servo to say “I’m fine, don’t worry about it.”. They sat in silence again for a moment. Arcee couldn’t help but stare at Elita’s emotionless form. It was like she had become a magnet for her optics, it was impossible to <em> not </em> look away. Eventually Arcee spoke again. Her voice felt oddly loud in this now quiet space, the only sounds that they heard was the water, a low rumble and a shushing noise as it moved against the old metal that made the vessel they were safely nestled inside.    </p><p> </p><p>“You knew her?” Arcee asked softly, looking up at Grimlock’s still shocked expression, thought it had considerably softened into something more like wonder and confusion now. Grimlock said nothing but instead slowly nodded his helm. “What was she like?” Arcee asked, turning to look up at her friend, she could feel something akin to child-like eagerness. Grimlock’s optics darted around the dim look dragging along the walls that were marked with scratches and dents but somehow still held together.   </p><p> </p><p>For a short while Grimlock said nothing and Arcee wasn’t even sure he was going to respond to her question, he just stared at the floor. She waited a moment longer. But then he let out a little huff and a small smile spread across his face. “She was an unyielding, valiant warrior, and yet she had the kindest spark out of all of us.” Grimlock said, looking up at the ceiling as he reminisced about the past. He let out a little chuckle and then a soft sigh. They fell silent again. </p><p> </p><p>There had been rumors that Elita One and Optimus Prime had a thing for each other. Of course, they were just rumors. (Some of them, <em> quite </em> scandalous.) But it wasn’t like anyone had evidence to prove it. And if they did have a thing they were never outwardly affectionate with each other, at least in public. But Arcee was sure that they had their reasons, one of them being Megatron. Arcee wouldn’t put it past him if he were to use someone Prime cared about as leverage.</p><p> </p><p>But when Elita went missing, their feelings for each other were all but confirmed. For months it was like he wasn’t all there. Sure he acted like his old self but there was something off about him. His smile was empty and hollow, and when he talked it was like he was using every ounce of his energy to keep the tiredness out of it. Arcee knew why he was doing it, he was doing it for them, but at what cost? Like his spark had suddenly risen out of his frame and all that remained was an emotionless husk. For a while, he pulled his field close to his spark, but when Arcee passed his chair she could feel the tendrils of despair that lingered on the outside of his field reaching for her trying to pull her into a spiraling whirlpool of depression. </p><p> </p><p>Over time he slowly came back out to them. He became more like himself, but there was always that little hint of sadness that lingered if one were to search his field long enough (if he <em> let </em> them search his field long enough) and sometimes there would be a little more of it when there was something that was just a little <em> too </em> familiar to him. Arcee was pulled out of her thoughts when she felt Grimlock shift around her. He scooted a little further away from her and was now looking down at the floor. She saw him dragging his servo along the ground allowing his digits to gently fall into the small crevices left from the dents and scratches.  </p><p> </p><p>Arcee craned her neck back around and looked into the darkness at the other pods. She wondered if the other crew had survived. She glanced back at Grimlock who was now staring down at the floor with a pondering look on his face, his servo had come up to cup his chin, his thumb digit stocking his chin, and one of his optic ridges was raised. She pushed herself to her pedes and wandered closer to the pods, earning a glance from Grimlock to see what she was doing. She gingerly stepped over Elita’s body making sure not to accidentally scuff her.</p><p> </p><p>She stepped toward the first pod next to the one that had been housing Elita. She squinted her optics trying to look behind the glass that had since clouded over, but (unsurprisingly) she couldn’t see anything beyond dust and an endless darkness that seemed to consume the interior of the pod. Arcee looked around trying to find that she had pressed to release Elita from her stasis pod the first time. She dragged her servo down the control panel where buttons that looked like they once lit up were. She pressed one, but nothing happened. She scrunched up her face and looked at the small panel again before she simply dragged her whole servo down the panel effectively pressing each button at the same time.   </p><p> </p><p>The pod let out a loud hiss and the door sprang open. A short figure, shorter than Arcee at least, fell out of the pod with a loud clash. Arcee looked up at Grimlock whose helm had shot up the moment he heard the bot's body hit the floor. His optics were wide and his plating was ruffled and fanned out from being startled. The ship groaned and Arcee felt herself losing some of her balance as it shifted on the rock it had been left to rust on long ago. She grabbed at the pod for some balance, tearing her optics off of Grimlock. </p><p> </p><p>Only when she felt the ship stopped moving and everything seemed still did she even let go of the pod. She looked up at Grimlock who was now pressed up against the scratched and dented wall. He was giving her a hard look. Arcee smiled sheepishly at him, it was a smile that showed too much of her denta. It was a smile that knew she was in trouble. </p><p> </p><p>“Never do that again.” Grimlock said through clenched denta and jabbing a digit towards her, he sounded more shaken than angry. Arcee nodded in agreement with him. Arcee looked down at the bot who had fallen out of the pod she had just opened. Arcee stepped towards the body and stepped over them so that one pede was on either side of their waist. In the dim light she could see that the bot once looked like they were a mint green color. Their armor was just as dulled and greyed and cracked as Elita’s. They were laying on their stomach, their face pressed into the hard metal floor. Arcee grabbed their shoulder and with one swift motion flipped their body over. Arcee almost reeled back in horror when she saw a giant crack traveling from the top of the bot’s helm to the bottom of their jaw. There were flakes of rust that were beginning to form around the cut and she could see where little bits of energon were leaking out of the cut before she had gone into stasis and had now since dried.  </p><p> </p><p>“It can’t be.” Grimlock said from the other side of the room. Arcee turned around to look at him. Grimlock was hauling himself to his pedes, using the wall as leverage. She saw her nervously glancing at it, as if he expected it to break on him at any time and he would be sucked into the dark depths of the ocean below. His servo left the wall and he slowly made his way over to Arcee. </p><p> </p><p>“What do you mean?” Arcee asked the dinobot crossing her arms and raising an optic ridge. She felt her servos brush against the hilts of her swords. Grimlock looked at her before looking down at the relaxed face of the fem-bot who had just fallen out of the pod, as limp as a dead body. Grimlock knelt down on one knee and gently maneuvered the small fem-bot’s body so that she was closest to him. Arcee lifted her pede so the body being dragged closer to the Dinobot didn’t trip her. </p><p> </p><p>“This is Moonracer.” Grimlock said standing up once Moonracer was shoulder to shoulder with Elita One. “She was the best sharp-shooter we had.” He said with a soft chuckle. “And she's… from Velocitron.” He said softly her voice fading into a soft mumble that Arcee could barely hear.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Arcee said looking down remembering the rust plague that had hit many colonies. It had wiped out all of Velicitron. At least she thought it had killed all of them. Apparently there were still some left. Or perhaps Moonracer was the last of her kind. That thought was a little depressing. Arcee pushed the rest of her thoughts out of her helm and decided to focus on the present.</p><p> </p><p>Arcee turned around and looked at the remaining pods. There were a total of five inside of the ship’s hull. Two had already opened their doors wide. The other three were still sealed shut. “I wonder who the other arm.” Arcee wondered allowed. Grimlock looked up at the remaining pods. </p><p> </p><p>“There’s only one way to find out.” He said softly, stepping towards a pod. </p><p> </p><p>“I thought you said not to do that again.” Arcee said, throwing her arms out as if to say ‘what gives?’</p><p> </p><p>“What I meant is don’t do it that way again, we can catch them as they fall.” He said his voice now returning to it’s confident and matter of fact tone. Arcee rolled her optics. Grimlock stooped a few feet away from the door, he was slightly crouched ready to spring and catch the bot that fell out. Arcee mashed down every button and the pod popped open with a loud hiss. This time a little bit of opaque white gas came out of the pod, but quickly dissipated into the air as it was exposed. Grimlock still looked ready to catch whoever fell out of it, but no frame fell, instead small lights along the sides of the pod turned on. It spilled out of the pod into the ship’s damaged hull. The light seemed to make the dents and scratched even more obvious as the shadows inside of them seemed to only darken with the light.   </p><p> </p><p>The glass hood that sealed the pod shut, slowly rose up, the ray of light coming from the pod growing larger and larger. Arcee peeked around the corner and looked inside the pod. She saw an orange fem-bot laying inside of the pod. The interior was surprisingly still intact and looked very much like the ones that were on the <em> Ark </em>. </p><p> </p><p>The frame inside of the pod shifted and Arcee stepped back, her optics widening. She hadn’t expected this. The fem-bot inside however didn’t look much different from the bots who were laying on the floor. Her armor looked like it had once been a vibrant orange with purple highlights, but at this point, her armor looked like a sheet of plastic that had been left in the sun for too long, and had been subsequently bleached from the exposure to long joors of sunlight. Her optics fluttered open and for a moment the strange bot just stared at the ceiling of her pod, with a puzzled look painted onto her face. Arcee noticed that her optics, while both were dim, were unevenly lit. </p><p> </p><p>Slowly the -fembot sat up in her pod and looked around, it seemed that then they noticed that something wasn’t quite right. But the bot didn’t reach the way Arcee was expecting, they suddenly seemed unaware of her aged and broken surroundings. “Sigma?” The bot asked, raising up a servo to rub her optics, tiredness and exhaustion coloring her already groggy voice. They yawned and looked around, letting out a tried sniff. They stretched still completely unaware of Grimlock or Arcee’s presents. Arcee wasn’t sure if that was a good thing of a bad thing. For a couple of kliks the bot remained in an unaware and tired state before they blinked and looked around rapidly. Her optics suddenly widened and then they landed on Arcee. </p><p> </p><p>Grimlock shifted, the fem-bot must have noticed him out of the corner of her optic because her helm snapped in his direction. As if her gaze had petrified him, Grimlock suddenly stepped moving mid-step and looked at the fem-bot.    </p><p> </p><p>“Grimlock?” She asked, her voice breathless as if she couldn’t believe her optics. “What are you doing here? Who’s that?” She asked, shifting in her pod and gesturing to Arcee. She used her servos to lift her aft up and push herself forward. Arcee glared at her for a moment. </p><p> </p><p>“We received a distress signal from this planet, we came to investigate.” Grimlock said slowly. “This is Arcee, Lancer.” Grimlock added when he glanced in Arcee’s directions and found that she was looking at him with her optic ridges raised. The fem-bot, Lancer apparently, turned her helm to look at Arcee.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s nice to meet you.” Lancer said. </p><p> </p><p>Arced nodded. “You too.” She said looking into the fem-bot’s optics but suddenly felt strange doing so, instead Arcee found herself glancing around the hull, trying to focus on anything other than the bot’s face, feeling slightly awkward. She glanced back at the bot who was looking at her with her dimly lit optics, Lancer blinked slowly, her optics now had a strange sheen over them. She was looking at Arcee, but it was like Lancer didn’t see her. A moment that felt like several joors passed between Arcee and Lancer, both of them saying nothing to each other. Arcee let out a little cough trying to break up the silence. But that only seemed to make things more awkward. Arcee was almost certain that Lancer had somehow fallen asleep until she blinked and moved again, turning away from Arcee, as if the past thirdy nano-kliks hadn’t even happened. And that was where their interactions stopped. Arcee walked around from the side of the pod and stood with Grimlock. </p><p> </p><p>“Grimlock where’s Sigma?” Lancer asked looking around the dark interior of the ship again. “Where is the ship? Why is it dark, is it night?” She asked looking around, squinting her already dim optics.</p><p> </p><p>“Lancer…” Grimlock paused glancing at Arcee. ::How do you think she’s going to handle it?”:: Grimlock asked Arcee over the coms.</p><p> </p><p>::Beats me. I just met this femme, if you don’t know I <em> definetly </em> don’t know.:: Arcee said. Grimlock sighed. </p><p> </p><p>::Well she’ll find out eventually might as well just break it to her now.:: He sighed over the coms, shugging. Lancer gave them a strange look, squinting her optics and cocking her helm to the side. </p><p> </p><p>“We’re not on land, we’re under the ocean.” Grimlock said in one breath. </p><p> </p><p>Lancer, for a moment, didn’t react. She just sat there on her berth slab staring into her lap. Then she looked up at Grimlock before asking. “What?” Her face still remained neutral, and stoney, but Arcee could see something akin to fear bubbling up into her optics. “I don’t understand.” Lancer finally added. “Wha-what happened?” Lancer asked. </p><p> </p><p>“We don’t know, we just found this under the ocean.” Arcee said with a shrug. Grimlock nodded in agreement. Lancer’s optics shifted between Arcee and Grimlock. What little color that was left in her face plate slowly drained out of it.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m afraid to ask this, but what vorn is it?” Lancer asked looking between them. Arcee could feel waves of desperation and fear radiating off of her field. “Please tell me, it hasn't been too long.” She said her voice trailing off, the desperation found in her field seeping into her voice. </p><p> </p><p>“What vorn do you think it is?” Arcee asked with an awkward smile. Lancer pursed her lips at her before answering. Arcee could see her swallow thickly before she did so. </p><p> </p><p>“24096 thousand PCB.” She said wincing as if preparing for a slap. Arcee supposed that when they told her what vorn it actually was would feel like a slap in the face. Arcee and Grimlock glanced at each other. Their optics met for a split nano-klik before they glanced at her again. Arcee shifted around trying to find a way to gently break the knowledge to Lancer that it was not in fact 24096 thousand PCB.</p><p> </p><p>Lancer slowly opened her optics and looked around at Arcee and Grimlock’s faces. Arcee could see the dread slowly form on Lancer’s face. “Is that wrong?” She asked slowly. “How long has it been?” She asked her voice barely above a whisper. “What vorn is it?” She asked finally. </p><p> </p><p>“72289 thousand PCB.” Arcee managed to squeak out after a long pause and winced, bracing herself for what was to come. She waited for all pit to break loose, for Lancer to freak out and start hyperventilating. But nothing happened. Instead, Lancer furrowed her optic ridges and looked down at her lap. Slowly, she pulled her servos into her lap and began to fiddle with them. Her unevenly lit optics darted around the room. </p><p> </p><p>“72289 thousand vorns?” Lancer said her voice barely above a whisper. It might have been mistaken for a light breeze passing over some bot’s audials. “72289 thousand vorns?” She asked again, her voice a little louder. She looked up at Arcee. Her optics were darting around the room far more rapidly. “72289 thousand vorns?” She asked. This time her voice shook like glass panes during a thunderstorm. Lancer’s optics finally landed on Arcee’s face before they shifted to stare into Grimlocks. Arcee could see her desperately searching their face plates looking for some sign of a lie, that this was all some massive joke. But Arcee knew that she found nothing. Lancer sat back inside of the pod and brought her servos to her face, she laid back and was still for a while. Grimlock and Arcee exchanged glances at each other, fearful that they had just caused this poor fem-bot’s processor to short circuit.  </p><p> </p><p>Lancer’s long, orange digits dragged down her face and met together in front of her pursed lips like she was praying. Slowly, she sucked in a long breath of air into her vents and slowly let it out. She sat back up and looked at Arcee and Grimlock again, her face was calm, unnerving calm for the kind of news that had just been broken to her. Arcee and Grimlock once again exchanged unsure glances with each other. “72289 thousand vorns!” Lancer finally shouted at them, her calm demeanor breaking and a face of panic and fear was revealed. Arcee, despite this being the first reaction she had expected from Lancer, started at the sudden change in Lancer’s volume. Lancer’s servos began to twitch and shake, she looked around frantically. She began to shift where she sat as if she was trying to find a route of escape. Arcee readyed herself to stop her if she tried.   </p><p> </p><p>Lancer’s optics flickered to the bodies that were laying on the floor and she suddenly froze in place, her frantic movement ceased. Her already wide optics widened even further, impossibly wide. Shock over took the rest of Lancer’s expression. Slowly her face relaxed with disbelief. Slowly she lifted her aft off of the pod’s interior and allowed herself to slide down the metal. Arcee reached out to grab her arm and to hold her in place. But Grimlock quickly grabbed her wrist and shook his helm. </p><p> </p><p>Lancer knelt down next to Elita’s body, which was laid out neatly, her arms straight by her sides and her leg placed together like she was a soldier standing in a line up, Lancer stared at her. She reached out towards Elita, but drew her servos back, curling her digits into her palm. Her intake opened and closed as she tried to find her words, she tried to speak but the only thing that came out was a little burst of static. Finally Lancer let out a shaky breath and collapsed next to her leader’s motionless figure. Her optics shifted to Moonracer, who was in the same position. She fell silent. Arcee watched her feeling pity growing in her spark.</p><p> </p><p>“They are still alive.” Lancer finally breathed out after a long moment of silence. “They need a massive amount of maintenance, without it they will die. We <em> have </em> to get them to the surface.” Lancer said, determination coloring her voice and pushing the disalief and fear out. “We need to open the other pods.” She said looking up at Grimlock with expectant optics.</p><p> </p><p>For a moment Grimlock did nothing. Arcee looked at him, she nudged his shoulder. He shook his helm and glanced down at Arcee. She gestured to the other two pods they had neglected to open as they had become distracted from this new development. They quickly made their way over to the pods. Arcee was a little faster than Grimlock and made it to the side of the pod much faster than he had. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee ran her servo down the panel of buttons. The pod sprung open and the body of a faded yellow and red fem-bot flopped out. Grimlock rushed forward and had to practically jump to catch the frame that was falling out of the pod. The force of his landing caused the ship to shift and rock. A low groan rumbled through the ship sending vibrations that wriggled their way up the bottom of Arcee’s pedes. She felt the ground she was standing on shift and she stumbled throwing her servos out to catch her fall. Her digits curled around the edge of the pod’s opening. She squeezed her optics shut and waited for the rumbling to stop. </p><p> </p><p>She glanced over at Grimlock who had pulled the limp frame to his chest and had practically wrapped himself around her. She looked up at Lancer who had wrapped her arm around her legs and had pulled herself into a tight ball, her chin rested on her knee joints and her optics were shut tightly. Arcee could see that she had extended a servo out and wrapped it around Elita’s wrist to keep her body from moving. Moonracer was not so lucky, she turned over as the shift shifted. She slid forward and stopped when her body was about halfway to Grimlock’s location. </p><p> </p><p>When the ordeal was over every conscious bot in the room glared at Arcee. “Sorry.” Arcee mumbled under her breath. Grimlock sighed, but Lancer let out an annoyed snort. Arcee looked up at her to see that she was still glaring at her, Arcee saw Lancer’s lower jaw shift as she grinded her denta together in annoyance. Arcee looked away and slowly lowered herself to the floor. She shifted her gaze to Grimlock despite knowing she was going to get no sympathy from him. </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t do that again.” Grimlock sighed as he lowered the red and yellow fem-bot’s frame to the floor. “<em> Wait </em> next time.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re going to get us killed.” Lancer snarled. Arcee startled when she heard the anger in her voice. “What were you thinking?” She asked. </p><p> </p><p>“I wasn’t.” Arcee mumbled looking away, her voice growing softer and softer until it was barely a wisp of air flowing from her lips.</p><p> </p><p>“Then next time, maybe you should.” Lancer growled through clenched denta. Arcee wanted to throw some snark back at her, but she held her glossa. Arcee was unaware that her jaw had tightened, only after a few moments when she came back to herself did she process the pain that was coming from her denta as they were being crushed against each other. Instead of responding to Lancer and possibly causing an unneeded argument, she looked down and slowly nodded in begrudging agreement.</p><p> </p><p>The fem-bot they had just recovered was in the same shape as Elita and Moonracer. In fact they looked a little worse. Their armor was almost faded to completely grey, and the scratches that marred their armor were deeper than the others. After moving Moonracer to her initial position the fem-bot, who was identified as Firestar by Lancer, was placed next to her. Her arms and legs straight as metal bars. </p><p> </p><p>Grimlock and Arcee stood next to the last unopened pod. Arcee waited for Grimlock this time. And for the first time in her life Arcee seemed to realize just how slowly Grimlock walked. It felt like joors before he was where he needed to be. Part of Arcee wondered if he was being slow on purpose just to make her life harder. Arcee glared at him as he took his sweet primus given time waltzing over to the pod. She rolled her optics and looked at the buttons caked in a layer of dust. She wiped the dust away with the tips of her tights making sure to apply enough pressure not to press them but to push away most of the dust. </p><p> </p><p>Behind that layer of dust was an away of colors ranging from reds to blues to green. They were color coded. Numbers were red, characters were green, and any other symbol was a pale shade of yellow. The symbols, characters, and numbers that were once printed onto the buttons were now faded. Above the buttons was a little screen that looked like it once lit up. It probably projected the vitals from the bots inside, now (obviously) they were no longer able to serve their purpose. </p><p> </p><p>“Arcee did you hear me?” Grimlock asked. Arcee snapped her helm in the direction of the dinobot’s voice. </p><p> </p><p>“Hmm?” She asked, raising her optic ridges. </p><p> </p><p>“Are you ready?” Grimlock asked, putting his servos on his hip plating.</p><p> </p><p>“Yup.” Arcee said, giving Grimlock a curt nod. Grimlock nodded back to her. Arcee mashed the buttons down one last time and the pod opened up. The body of a very beaten up fem-bot slipped out of the pod and into Grimlock’s awaiting arms. Arcee heard a gasp from behind her and saw Lancer was staring at the fem-bot’s limp frame with wide optics.</p><p> </p><p>“Greenlight!” She cried. Lancer quickly pushed herself to her pedes. She slipped on her way up and her knee collided with the floor. A loud metallic bang echoed around the ship, rolling around in the cavity. Arcee could feel the vibrations fluttering through the air and embedding themselves into her armor. Lancer scrambled back up onto her pedes and ran toward Grimlock. Suddenly the ship began to shift and rock, Arcee could hear the metal groaning. She looked at Grimlock, with wide optics, she could see him glancing around just as confused as she was. Arcee wracked her processor for a moment and then it dawned on her, the uneven body weight distribution on the ship. Arcee ran past Lancer switching sides with her.</p><p> </p><p>Grimlock glanced at her from the corner of his optic giving her a subtle nod. Over the comes she heard his voice ::Good thinking.:: Arcee gave him a nod and knelt down next to Elita’s motionless body. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>“<b>D-did I-I say some-omething wrong-g?</b>” Sigma asked after a long minute of silence. Windblade looked up, startled. She had forgotten that Sigma was even there for a moment, she had been so focused on Optimus. She looked up at the small computer, tearing her gaze away from her leader who was sitting against the wall. His mask was still clamped tightly over his face, but even with the mask Windblade could see his spark was crushed by something that the little droid has said. The light that usually resided in his bright blue optics was now gone, it was like staring into the empty eyes of a drone, or worse some bot who was dead. </p><p> </p><p>“Are you aware that your ship is in pieces?” Windblade asked standing up, the servo that she had placed on Optimus’s shoulder to try to get his attention (the attempt had been in vain) slipped off and fell to her side. Windblade was a little unsure of telling the bot, worried that it simply wouldn’t be able to process the new data that she was telling it, but Windbalde decided it was best if she were to just give the news to the little droid instead of trying to dance around it for ages. She was going to find out eventually, right?</p><p> </p><p>“<b>Wha-at ever do you mean?</b>” Sigma asked. Her voice, thought still mechanical, was now colored with confusion. </p><p> </p><p>“Run a diagnostic test.” Windblade said, thinking it was best that the droid figured out that the ship was in fragments rather than Windblade trying to explain it to her. However Windblade was still unsure how she was going to explain to the little droid that the ship they were a part of was no longer operational. </p><p> </p><p>The little droid fell silent and for a moment the sound of a machine working was the only sound that kept the quiet from turning into dead silence. Under all of that noise Windbalde could hear the sound of the ocean. The waves crashed against the sore opposite of them, and the soft hiss as the water climbed up the side of the island and soaking into the sand. She turned her helm to look down the torn hull of the ship and at the small fraction of the landscape that she could actually see. The sand was a mixture of white and black swirling together, sometimes they would mix and turn into a muddled shade of grey. The ocean ahead of it seemed to stretch onward infinitely. The bright blue water shimmered in the full sun. There was not even a single cloud in the clear blue sky. </p><p> </p><p>She saw something just on the water surface. It was dark like a massive shadow was slowly crawling it’s way over the water’s surface. But there were no clouds or other things in the sky to create such shadows. Perhaps it was <em> under </em> the water. Windblade squinted her optics to try to get a better look, the shadow warped and blurred along with the waves of the water. Yes it seemed that this shadow was coming from under the water. But what was it? It was huge, that was for sure. Slowly a relatively small red object came out of the water. It was sharp and pointed like the tip of a knife. However it didn’t stay small, more and more of it rose out of the water until it stood before Windblade like a massive sail. Slowly it began to move forward, it traveled easily through the water, cutting through it like one of her blades, a wake of water spread from the fin and caused more water to rise up onto the sore. Windbalde could just barely see what the fin was attached to. A muddle grey patch of skin was all that Windblade was able to see, she could see the individual scales glistening in the sunlight. </p><p> </p><p>Just as the red fin was almost out of Windblade’s view of sight it promptly turned around and made a large loop back to where it had started before. It did this again a few more times before the most peculiar thing happened to it. It bent, folding like a bird's wings, and then quickly flicked it upwards. The skin between the skeletal portion of the fin and the body wobbled back and forth creating a strange noise. What was this creature doing? A low rumble came from the ocean where the fin was. It traveled through the ground. The little grains of sand that were barley inside of the hull danced along the old and forgotten metal. Slowly the rumbling died down and the creature did the same snapping motion with it’s fin again. Like it had done with the small circle it had made, the creature performed this strange act a few more times before it stopped. </p><p> </p><p>Suddenly there was another noise not unlike the ones that she had been hearing nano-kliks before. But it was coming from somewhere else. WIndbale stepped forward and looked out of the ship’s hull, there was another fin sailing through the water, it was coming from the island where they had left the <em> Ark </em>.</p><p> </p><p>This sail was different; it was a darker shade of red and there were holes in the fin, in the obvious shape of a bite mark. Windbalde wondered if this particular creature was older in some way. The creature that the fin was attached to growled deeply and it’s speed picked up, and the little patch of skin that rose out of the water was covered in white scars that marred the dark grey scales. </p><p> </p><p>The creature that Windblade had initially been observing bent it’s fin all the way down to the water and slapped it against the surface. The darker fin mimicked the action. Water was thrown into the air and splattered against the ground and some even got as far as to splatter against the roof of the ship piece. Windblade, having stepped out into the open to see where the older creature’s growl had been coming from, did not have the protection of the roof to prevent her from being splattered with the water. She tried her best to step out of the way, but she somehow managed to get a face full of water. The heavy metal droplets drumed against the metal of the ship. Windbalde stepped back into the ship piece deciding that it would be safer inside.</p><p> </p><p>She spared a glance at Optimus. He was still sitting against the wall, his mask was still tightly sealed over his face, but was now looking up at the roof as the droplets thumped down on it. She saw him quickly glance at the fins that were sticking out of the ocean slapping against its surface. Another chorus of growls came from the ocean, the ground templed and the grains of sand danced across the metallic floor again. She watched him for a moment as he stared at the fins intently before she turned her full attention back to the events that were unfolding on the ocean’s surface.</p><p> </p><p>The bright red fin that belonged to the younger creature suddenly flattened against its body, it did not slap against the water’s surface. Windblade watched as it dove under the surface of the water. The darker fin did the same and dove down. Windblade looked forward trying to catch a glimpse of the creatures, but it seemed that they were gone.</p><p> </p><p>“<b>It see-eems that yo-ou were ri-ight.</b> ” Sigma said. Windblade jumped, feeling her armor bristle outwards, and let out a startled yelp. She turned to look at the computer system. “ <b>T-the ship do-oes appear to be no-t int-tac-ct.</b> ” Despite this new revelation Sigma's voice remained cheerful. It was a little unnerving at this point. “ <b>I ww-wi-ill have to ej-eject.</b>” Sigma said and with that the computer screen went dark and there was a soft hiss. </p><p> </p><p>Moments later a small drone, the size of and shape of Teletraan X appeared before them. They were a little different however. Sigma was silver and grey, the lights that surrounded her single optic was yellow, along with her optic itself. But other than those few minor differences she looked relatively the same. She even had the same extendable claw devise that acted like a servo.</p><p> </p><p>The little drone levitated over to Windblade and slowly circled around her. “I do not recognise you, are you crew?” She asked tilting to the side. Oh primus here we go again. Windblade internally groaned. </p><p> </p><p>“Yes, but I joined later.” Windblade said. </p><p> </p><p>“So you were not crew but now you are crew.” Sigma asked titling from side to side as she spoke, if she had a body and a helm she might have been cocking her helm from side to side. Windblade nodded. “I see. I will add you to my data files.” She chirped cheerfully. “Name?” The little droid asked. </p><p> </p><p>“Windblade.” Windblade said. The little droid bobbed in the air as if they were nodding and then went silent for a moment before she began to hum a little tune that Windblade didn’t recognize. Windblade could almost hear the gears and internals of the little droid’s processor as it worked, humming all the way. </p><p> </p><p>“Where did you learn that tune?” Optimus asked softly. Windblade turned to look at him and Sigma swiveled and fluttered over to where he sat on the floor.</p><p> </p><p>“The commander sometimes hummed it to herself while he was working, I supposed it just rubbed off on me.” Sigma said before floating back up and drifting back towards Windblade.</p><p> </p><p>“I wondered.” Optimus said, his voice was distant and when Windbalde looked into his optics they were clouded and glossy like he was staring into the distant past. Windblade could hear a tightness in his voice. “It was her favorite.” He muttered he looked down at his servos. Windblade didn’t know what to say, she wanted to comfort him, but she didn’t know what to say, and anything that came to mind just felt oddly wrong and awkward. So she just stared at him dumbly.</p><p> </p><p>Sigma grew silent, she simply bobbed in the air in front of Optimus, her single optic blinked as it glanced around the broken and battered ship. Then she turned to Windblade and fluttered back over to her, with a quiet voice Sigma said tilting closer to Windblade’s audial, “I now see my error.” </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>They decided to head to the surface.</p><p> </p><p>There were four bodies and three bots to carry them. Arcee had been assigned to carry Elita. Elita was by far the largest out of the group, but Arcee was stronger than she looked. After all, she could lug around a giant blaster into battle. Who's to say she can’t lug around a commander’s almost corpse. </p><p> </p><p>Lancer basically demanded that she carry Greenlight to the surface and neither Arcee or Grimlock were going to argue with her. That left Grimlock to carry Moonracer and Firestar, they were the two smallest bots, but their combined weight probably equaled one of the bots that either Arcee or Lancer were hulling around. </p><p> </p><p>::How are we going to get out with all the water rushing in?:: Arcee asked over the coms. Lancer had just been added to the frequency.</p><p> </p><p>::I don’t know.:: Grimlock commed back. </p><p> </p><p>::Does it matter?:: Lancer asked, ::We got what we needed, we can leave this to rust for all I care.::</p><p> </p><p>::She has a point.:: Arcee agreed. Grimlock sighed and then straightened up shifting the two limp fem-bots in his grip that had been slung over his shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee and Lancer stepped forward, if Grimlock spoke they didn’t hear him. Arcee slung Elita over her other shoulder using the side of her helm to keep her in place, the cables in her neck protested as they were being used in a way that was abnormal. It wasn’t working very well, but once they got the door open she could use her servos again. Arcee wedged her digits into the small gap in the door. Lancer followed her lead, wedging her thin fingers into the tiny gap between the door and the wall. </p><p> </p><p>They began to pull, Arcee let out a grunt of strain as the cables and wires in her arms began to ache. It seemed like their attempt to open the door would be pointless, but then the metal doors began to groan and wine as the metal was slowly pulled back and dragged against more metal.</p><p> </p><p>The groaning of the metal was accompanied by another sound, it was deep and Arcee could feel it vibrating through her digit-tips into her servo. It traveled up her arms and seemed to settle into her core, the rest of the ship rattled along with it and for a moment Arcee and Lancer stopped pulling. They looked around, Arcee could see Lancer’s optics growing wide and they began to dart around rapidly. When the sound stopped they waited to see if there was anything to indicate where it had come from, but there was nothing and they continued.  </p><p> </p><p>Little sparks flew from where the two metal pieces met, launching themselves into the air and bathing a small portion of the hull in golden light. But they quickly fizzled out and the small shadows that had been momentarily chased away slithered back into their respective corners. After a klik or two, the metal door had been pushed out of the way and the other door was the only thing standing in their way of freedom. This door was sealed shut, there were no cracks. It was probably an airlock door, now that Arcee was thinking about it.</p><p> </p><p>Slowly she set down Elita’s limp form, getting a strange look from Lancer out of the corner of the fem-bot’s optic, and pulled her two swords from the side of her hips and activated them. What looked like a long reddish-orange column of flame ignited out of the sword's hilt. She quickly slashed the two swords across the metal slab that was blocking their path. She deactivated her swords and placed the now bladeless hilts back onto her hip plating and swiftly kicked the fresh, still glowing gash in the door. The metal bent and a small stream of saltwater squirted out of the gap in the metal.</p><p> </p><p>She grabbed Elita’s limp frame and slung her back over her shoulder with a low grunt. Elita’s arms dangled down, swaying back and forth. Arcee kicked the door again and the door broke in half. </p><p> </p><p>Dark water suddenly rushed into the ship’s hull. Arcee hadn’t expected it to be so cold, but they were a ways down and in the shadow of some giant cliffside. Regardless Arcee hadn’t braced herself for it and how she was sputtering trying to pull herself out of shock. The force of the water had knocked her backward and pushed her all the way to the back of the pod, along with the red of her team members. She clung tightly to Elita’s frame.</p><p> </p><p>She shifted to the side, letting out a yelp, as a now empty pod was pushed towards her. But all that came out of her mouth was a large mass of bubbles. She snapped her mouth shut, making a face as she tasted the salty water on her glossa. She ended up running right into Lancer, who didn’t even seem to notice her. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee blinked her optics and looked around, the surroundings were now darker and blurrier, and the light from Lancer’s pod did little to illuminate its surroundings as efficiently outside of the water. The rays of bright white light that came from it were now warped and swirled with the water’s movements. Both Grimlock and Lancer were already pulling themselves to their pedes. The sound of their pedes hitting the metallic floor was muffled by the water. </p><p> </p><p>They stepped forward. Arcee felt the ship begin to shift downwards. Arcee felt herself beginning to slide back towards the back of the ship. Grimlock, Lancer and Arcee all looked at each other before they started to run forward. Well, they were moving as fast as they possibly could while in the water. Grimlock and Lancer were faster than Arcee and were out of the falling hull before Arcee. She saw their helms swivel upwards before they disappeared to the side when the ship began to shift to the side, obscuring her view of them. </p><p> </p><p>Arcee pushed herself a little harder. Her legs protested as they tried to push through an atmosphere that was far thicker than water. Arcee felt fear clawing inside of her tanks, like she had swallowed a tiny creature and it was desperately trying to escape. She was only a few steps away from the entrance when she felt the ship dipped downwards. Arcee jumped, her spark lurching with fear. </p><p> </p><p>She watched as the inside of the ship moved past her even though she didn’t move her legs. She found herself squeezing her optics shut. Her servos on Elita’s frame tightened, her digits dug into the seams between Elita’s armor. She was probably denting her as well, but at that moment Arcee didn’t really care. She opened her optics and looked down. </p><p> </p><p>Where there was once a floor was now an endless abyss of blue, oddly it was still dark. Arcee wiped her helm around, looking for any sign of Grimlock or Lancer, but it was like they disappeared, she bit her bottom lip out of fear, they were right here, there was no way they could have just disappeared. Arcee kicked her legs when she felt herself beginning to sink. Because she was holding onto Elita, she was unable to use her servo to swim. Not only that but she was also trying to support not only her own weight but an entire other mecha’s weight as well.</p><p> </p><p>Trying to swim with only her legs was proving to be futile. She looked up expecting to see a ray of light but instead, she saw a massive blurry shadow above her. What was that? She was tiring herself out and making no progress. Suddenly her coms beeped. Arcee startled but freed her servo and activated the com-link. </p><p> </p><p>::Arcee get down here!:: She heard Grimlock’s voice, it was laced with panic and fear. ::Now!:: Arcee slapped her servo over her audial when Grimlock yelled. He sounded fearful. </p><p> </p><p>::Where are you?:: Arcee snapped slightly irritated as her audials started to ring from the sudden shift in volume.</p><p> </p><p>::Look down.:: Lancer’s far more calm, not no less fearful voice said. Arcee looked down to see her teammate standing on the side of a rocky cliffside. The respective bots that they had been holding had been set onto the rocky floor of the cliffside. Grimlock raised his servo and waved at her, and then curved his servo towards himself frantically and silently telling her to pick up the pace. Arcee allowed herself to sink lower and lower until she was parallel with them. She used her free servo and her pedes to pull herself towards her.</p><p> </p><p>The process was slow and Arcee felt silly doing it. When she was finally close enough Grimlock and Lancer grabbed her servo and yanked into the cliffside with them. Arcee let go of Elita’s limp frame, letting it sink onto the rocks. She glided over the rocky surface before bumping into the hard jagged wall. Just them there was a low rumble, and a massive creature dipped downwards towards them. The wake created by whatever had just moved pushed them back. Arcee slammed into the rocks. She heard the muffled screech of metal grinding against stone. Her vision was even more blurry than it had been before. </p><p> </p><p>The last thing she saw before she was cast into a world of darkness, was a massive yellow eye.</p>
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